UH Samaritan Achieves Straight "A's" for Patient Safety from The Leapfrog Group

The Leapfrog Group, a national nonprofit health care ratings organization, announced updated Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades and awarded University Hospitals Samaritan Medical Center an elite designation of “Straight As” for its ongoing achievements in patient safety. UH Samaritan is one of only 59 hospitals in the United States to be awarded an “A” consistently since 2012.

“This is a testament to our practice of maintaining constant vigilance with patient safety, allowing employees, volunteers and medical staff complete transparency in all activities to report potential issues and safety risks,” said Karen McNeil, president of UH Samaritan. “We also encourage our patients and their loved ones to take an active role in their care, fostering relationships built on trust to encourage full disclosure, which is also essential to patient safety.”

“We applaud all hospitals that earn an A for safety, a significant achievement. UH Samaritan takes that achievement one step further by earning an A year after year,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group.

Developed under the guidance of an Expert Panel, the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade uses 27 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to assign A, B, C, D and F grades to more than 2,600 U.S. hospitals twice per year. It is calculated by top patient-safety experts, peer reviewed, fully transparent and free to the public.

To see UH Samaritan’s full grade, and to access consumer-friendly tips for patients, visit www.hospitalsafetygrade.org.

About The Leapfrog Group

Founded in 2000 by large employers and other purchasers, The Leapfrog Group is a national nonprofit organization driving a movement for giant leaps forward in the quality and safety of American health care. The flagship Leapfrog Hospital Survey collects and transparently reports hospital performance, empowering purchasers to find the highest-value care and giving consumers the lifesaving information they need to make informed decisions. The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, Leapfrog’s other main initiative, assigns letter grades to hospitals based on their record of patient safety, helping consumers protect themselves and their families from errors, injuries, accidents, and infections.

About University Hospitals Samaritan Medical Center

Since 1912, UH Samaritan Medical Center has been a community-based health care organization offering a variety of medical services to residents in Ashland County and surrounding communities. UH Samaritan Medical Center is a 55-bed acute care facility offering emergency services, imaging services, ambulatory surgical services, birthing and women’s services, and acute medical and surgical services. UH Samaritan Medical Center has received numerous acknowledgements including The Joint Commission Top Performer on Key Quality Measures, Health Care’s Most Wired Award, and Truven Analytics Top 100 Hospital. For more information, go to www.UHSamaritan.org